DIY "adapter" for Memory Stick PRO Duo cards

The problem with all of these newfangled, fingernail-size memory card formats is that most require an adapter for use in standard card readers -- an adapter that many people lose within seconds of tearing open the packaging. Well luckily for you PSP owners out there, Wikihow has a quick and easy tutorial on building your own "adapter" for Memory Stick PRO Duo cards, and like many of the best mods we've seen, this one is super cheap. All you need to get your Duo card to work in a regular Memory Stick card reader is a paper clip and a strip of scotch tape -- a five cent project, at most -- and as the above picture should indicate, you're really just taping the clip to the card as a de facto handle. The perils here, of course, are that using too much tape could cause the contraption to get jammed up inside the reader, while not enough of the sticky stuff may leave you with a lost card. As usual, we take no responsibility for any broken cards or readers that may result from this modification; we just report the news, it's up to you to gauge your own handiness and perform the standard risk-reward analysis.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

[Jay @ Aug 30th 2006 4:56PM]

Did you guys just run out of stuff to blog..I want my 1 minute back!

[hydrogen_wv @ Aug 30th 2006 5:00PM]

Wouldn't it be easier and just as cheap to just superglue the paperclip to the card... then, you could even stick it on a keychain to help you keep from losing it...

[Mike P @ Aug 30th 2006 5:03PM]

Hydrogen:

But then you wouldn't be able to use the card in a Pro Duo device anymore...

[the other steve jobs @ Aug 30th 2006 5:22PM]

i swear to allah...

wtf is up with these memory devices the size of a grain of rice? I have human fingers! I fscking hate the fact that i have to bust out my CSI-The Home Game kit every time i want to take the Micro-Mini SD card out of my wife's digital camera.

My IDS Mark II has a Compact Flash card. I can grab it without an electron microscope, and it fits in the palm of my hand without being heavy.

FSCK Sony and everyone else for their asstastic memory formats the size of pencil leads. there's no need for it - some things should not be so small as to be lost as easily as pocket lint.

[mike p @ Aug 30th 2006 5:33PM]

hey steve, i agree, cf is the perfect size, or sd cards

[Count Chocula @ Aug 30th 2006 5:33PM]

It would have been better to blog about the following articles:

Apple being sued by Creative
Apple sueing Creative
McDonalds sueing Apple over the Mc-iPod
Apple sueing Burger King
White Castle sueing Wendys
7-11 sueing White Hen
Wal-Mart sueing Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton sueing her parents for conception
Steve Gates sueing Bill Jobs
George W. Bush becomes American President

[jedd @ Aug 30th 2006 5:41PM]

>hey steve, i agree, cf is the perfect size, or sd cards

Aren't SD cards roughly the same size as Pro Duos? I saw them displayed side by side in Office Depot and there seems to be no significant difference in size.

[Erik Cohen @ Aug 30th 2006 5:42PM]

Ghetto. Nuff said.

[SteveZ @ Aug 30th 2006 5:51PM]

dang kinda makes me want a PSP just so i can have a reason to do that mod

[tekdroid @ Aug 30th 2006 6:32PM]

CF cards are faaaaaar too big for most small devices nowadays (phones, cameras, etc)

Some of you are just old-skool :)
Filed under ghettomods.

[The PlonKMeester @ Aug 30th 2006 6:48PM]

I happen to think this is FOOKIN COOL.

But then again, I`m a computer programmer with no life.

Pash the wine please.

[Ray @ Aug 30th 2006 6:51PM]

Just get a Archos PMA400 or a Sony UX 180p, who needs memory cards anyway... SHEESH!!!!!!

[DANIEL @ Aug 30th 2006 8:23PM]

definately ran out of things to blog...

[chr0n1c @ Aug 30th 2006 9:28PM]

haha... i should sell kits for this on ebay

[DeaDGoD @ Aug 30th 2006 10:15PM]

You know the sad part about what you said, chr0n1c, is that you'll probably make $50 easy by doing that

[Laura @ Aug 31st 2006 1:43AM]

Very innovative. lol

[boden @ Aug 31st 2006 2:19AM]

Or better still.. You could shop around and buy a memory card that comes with the adaptor.
Worked for me.

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Aug 31st 2006 4:14AM]

To the other steve jobs: I sort of support you. But.

SD forum is pretty open about what, why and how they do. Introduction of "mini SD" and "micro SD" was first and foremost targeted at mobile market. When plugged, normal sized SD card still draws power, thus shortening battery life. Mini and micro were specifically developed to draw as little as possible power when plugged. That came with the price of the tiny size - to shorten length of wiring and thus reduce resistance of the card.

You can have Micro SD plugged all the time in the phone - and you wouldn't notice any degradation of battery life. On other side, power consumption of CompactFlash is very noticeable - what can be observed on most modern PocketPCs.

[Ferny @ Aug 31st 2006 4:46AM]

yeah this doesn't really take a genius to figure out. I stuck the MSPD card in the reader without thinking about it and it worked, granted I could of still taken it out because there was enough of the card sticking out to pull it out.

[Derrick @ Aug 31st 2006 5:10AM]

Well that is so cool man. Wonder how they came up with such a cute way of solving the problem..

[Rich @ Aug 31st 2006 7:34AM]

"MacGyver! What did you do with my memory stick!?"

OOOh nothing... Just saved the world... From the robots... but I couldn't find the adaptor... Man that one was close.

[Gustavo Tellez @ Aug 31st 2006 7:38AM]

HAHAHAHAHAHA I can't believe it. IT WORKS!!! Tried it several times and it works perfectly. I would have never guessed that the connections were the same size as the normal MS.

[Jason @ Aug 31st 2006 9:07AM]

I have never gotten a Pro Duo stick that didn't come with the adapter. Sony sticks come with it, and Sandisk sticks come with it.

[Julian Emmett Turner @ Aug 31st 2006 11:26PM]

Like I've said at many other postings of this so-called "news"... THIS DOES NOT ALLOW A DUO CARD TO FIT REGULAR MEMORY STICK READERS! It simply allws it to fit poorly engineered but already Duo-capable readers or those implemented in devices where the Duo functionality isn't accessible (a deep slot in a laptop reader, like my Acer's).

For this to work, your reader must have contacts specifically for Duo cards. Of course, the "mod" would not be needed if the corresponding slot were designed as the proper length/depth for insertion and retrieval of the Duo stick, so this mis-match of technologies is the only way this would ever come in useful. The fact that I have been doing something similar almost a full year with my PSP's 2GB Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo (so I don't have to carry an adapter with my laptop) means that, sure, such miss-matches do exist for this to be useful. However, incorrect reporting is never useful. You can't just shove one of these in an old Sony Photo Printer or an MPD-AP20U DVD/CD Burner MP3 player or even a Sony XBR910 TV (the XBR960 has one slot but fully-inserting push-to-eject functionality for both types). Believe me, I've tried.

My MSPD just has tape folded over to leave a tiny bit exposed from my reader. Only a fingernail is required for full insertion. The tape tab folds over into the slot with the MSPD while in my PSP. This particular stick gets very hot, so the tape adhesives may insulate heat more and may liquify leaving your stick stuck in. I tried not to cover the stick too much but gave it adequate surface area to remove without it pulling off (as long as it's cooled down).

[Jimmay @ Sep 1st 2006 5:31PM]

I've done that before, but not with a paper clip, just 2 pieces of tape facing eachother to make a little thing to pull it out with.

[Elaine @ Apr 10th 2008 3:53PM]

Please tell me how to remove my sony camera memory stick pro duo from my acer computer. computer is not reading it and I need to get it out. Help PLEASE!

[CRaZY tha CoBRA @ May 5th 2008 11:08AM]

sounds like your card is 1.) stuck and 2.) dead.

[Tha CoBRA @ May 5th 2008 11:06AM]

I just took a small saw and cut my Mem Stick reader down so that the Pro Duo card would stick out about 1/4 inch. You can still use the full size mem sticks on it also. That was easier than having to tape/untape a paperclip every time. But I guess if it's an internal card reader, you'd have to make some kind of adapter like this.